National Cathedral
Address: Wisconsin and Massachusetts Ave., NW.
Washington, D.C.
Built/Founded: 1907
Architect: George Frederick Bodley
The Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth largest cathedral in the world, the second largest in the United States, and the fourth tallest structure in Washington, D.C. The cathedral is the seat of both the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and its bishop of the Diocese of Washington.
The Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, under the leadership of the nine Bishops of Washington, erected the cathedral under a charter passed by the United States Congress on January 6, 1893. Construction began on September 29, 1907, when the foundation stone was laid in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt and a crowd of more than 20,000, and ended 83 years later when the last finial was placed in the presence of President George H. W. Bush in 1990. The foundation operates and funds the cathedral, which does not receive government funding.
The cathedral is located at Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues in the northwest quadrant of Washington. It is an associate member of the Washington Theological Consortium. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2007, it was ranked third on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.
